Rewilding & Conservation News and Discussions

[caltrek]

New Research Indicates More Than 900 At-risk Animal and Plant Species are Not Covered by Global Trade Protections
July 11, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert) A new study into the safeguarding of wildlife threatened by international trade has revealed:

• two-fifths of species identified as likely threatened by the international wildlife trade are not covered by the global agreement that regulates it;
• which means 904 species likely threatened by international trade are without international trade protections;
• this includes 370 species that are Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM

The study was conducted by a team of ecologists and wildlife trade experts at the University of Oxford, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and ZSL.

With the overexploitation of animals and plants being a major threat to nature, and new international pledges to halt species extinctions and ensure the harvest, use and trade in wild species is sustainable as part of the UN-brokered deal for nature – the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – now in place, the researchers set out to identify potential gaps in international trade protections for the world’s biodiversity.

To do that, their new study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, cross-references wildlife trade information with data on species under threat.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995174

[Time_Traveller]

Belgium To Ban Trophy Hunting Imports Of Endangered Species

19TH JULY 2023

Trophy hunting imports are on the way out in Belgium, thanks to an upcoming ban that could protect a wealth of threatened and endangered animal species.

Despite being one of the smallest countries in Europe, Belgium is the continent’s 13th largest hunting trophy importer of internationally protected species. Between 2014 and 2018, Belgium allowed 308 hunting “trophies” from nearly 40 protected species to be imported. This included mountain zebras, African lions, brown bears, hippopotamuses, cheetahs, and polar bears, among others.

Animals are killed for their skin, feet, teeth, skulls, entire heads, trunks, and ears. Some locations breed and farm wildlife specifically for trophy hunting purposes.

On July 14, 2023, the Belgian federal government’s Council of Ministers approved a legislative proposal for a ban on such imports of endangered species. The precise details of the legislation have not yet been published.

Member of Parliament Kris Verduyckt initiated the proposed ban in 2020. “I am glad that this hard work is paying off,” he said in a new statement. “Minister [Zakia Khattabi] is now fully translating my proposal into a bill and the entire Council of Ministers approves it.”

https://plantbasednews.org/culture/law- ... ign=buffer

[caltrek]

Why Is Russia Introducing Bison to Replace Extinct Woolly Mammoths?
by Dr. Russell Moul
August 11, 2023

Introduction:

(IFL Science) Russian scientists have introduced 12 bison to the Russian Arctic in the hope they will restore the ancient ecosystem that was once maintained by woolly mammoths. In addition, the scientists involved hope these animals will help slow down the damage being caused by climate change.

The bison (Bison bison bison – easy to remember), also known as plains bison and buffalos, were imported from a nursery in Denmark and traveled 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) by road to the Ingilor Nature Park, in the northern Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area. The journey took three weeks, but before they can start to explore the 2.2 million acres (900,000 hectares) of land available to them, they have to undergo a month-long quarantine. Their health is being monitored by park employees.

In May 2022, the leaders of the Pleistocene Park, a non-profit in Yakutia, approached the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area and proposed an exchange. The aim was for Ingilor Nature Park to send 14 of their existing muskox to Yakutia, while the Pleistocene Park would buy plains bison – four males and eight females – for Yamal.

Conclusion:

…concerns raised by Mary Edwards, an emerita professor of physical geography at the University of Southampton in the UK. "The Pleistocene ecosystem was treeless and had quite thick soils”, Edwards explained to LiveScience. “What you can see in geological sections of these kinds of landscapes is that, over time, they're storing soil carbon — it's frozen by the permafrost and it's basically a big carbon stack."

The worry is that animals could increase the loss of permafrost, leading to more water in the soil and a further loss of carbon. However, this is far from certain, and Edwards believes that there is certainly a case to be made for the introduction of large animals from the Pleistocene.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/why-is-russ ... hs-70222


Pleistocene Park

[caltrek]

Building Colorado’s New Wolf Pack Means Help from Other States — and Mother Nature
by Amanda Pampuro
August 25, 2023

Introduction:

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (Courthouse News) — Preparing to build a new pack of wolves by the end of the year along the state’s Western Slope is no simple task for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

As part of a reintroduction project approved by voters in 2020, state biologists got collars, hired a data manager and stocked up on the visual deterrent known as fladry, a rope strung with flags that flap in the breeze — but part of the plan includes praying for snowfall.

“We really need that snow for helicopter capture,” said Reid DeWalt, assistant director of Aquatic, Terrestrial and Natural Resources for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, at the agency's meeting on Friday, which was held at the Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs.

December snow in the Northwest will make it easier to spot wolves from the air and capture them. Without snow, finding wolves might entail trapping or snaring, depending on the rules set by the state that decides to supply Colorado. The Centennial State is currently negotiating with Washington and Oregon for animals, while Idaho, Montana and Wyoming declined to participate.

The state is working to meet the voter-created deadline to reestablish wolves by Dec. 31.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/buildin ... -nature/


This March 13, 2014 file photo provided by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shows a female wolf from the Minam pack outside La Grande, Ore., after it was fitted with a tracking collar.

[caltrek]

Researchers Issue Urgent Call to Save the World’s Largest Flower -Rafflesia - From Extinction
September 19, 2023

Introduction:

(Eurekalert)
• New study finds that most Rafflesia species, which produce the world’s largest flowers, face extinction.
• Lack of protection at local, national, and international levels means that remaining populations are under critical threat.
• Researchers propose an urgent action plan to save these remarkable flowers, building on local success stories.

An international group of scientists, including botanists at the University of Oxford’s Botanic Garden, has issued an urgent call for coordinated action to save the iconic genus Rafflesia, which contains the world’s largest flowers. This follows a new study which found that most of the 42 species are severely threatened, yet just one of these is listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species. Furthermore, over two thirds (67%) of the plants’ habitats are unprotected and at risk of destruction.

Rafflesia, one of the greatest botanical enigmas, has aroused curiosity among scientists for centuries. The plant is a parasite that infects tropical vines in jungles across Southeast Asia (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand). For most of its lifecycle, Rafflesia is hidden from sight, existing as a system of thread-like filaments that invades its host. At unpredictable intervals, the parasite produces a cabbage-like bud that breaks through the vine’s bark and eventually forms a giant, five-lobed flower, up to a metre across. This produces a foul scent of rotting meat to attract pollinating flies, earning it the alternative name ‘corpse flower.’

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1001991

[wjfox]

UK migratory birds 'in freefall' over climate change

1 day ago

British bird lovers will see a very different pattern of species as the climate warms, according to scientists.

They say climate change is bad news for birds, but locally we will see "winners and losers".

Migrants seldom seen on British shores, such as black-winged stilts and bee-eaters, are delighting bird watchers.

But populations of cuckoos are "in freefall" as UK wildlife struggles to cope with multiple pressures.

In nature-depleted Britain, almost half of all bird species are in decline due to a host of pressures - from the loss of meadows, hedgerows and other natural land to climate change and the use of pesticides.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66858850

[wjfox]

Dominica’s mountain chicken frog disappears in ‘fastest extinction ever recorded’

Ecological calamity on the Caribbean island demonstrates how quickly wildlife can be destroyed, scientists say

Sun 15 Oct 2023 07.00 BST

They were once so numerous they were cooked as the national dish of Dominica. Every year, thousands of mountain chicken frogs, roasted with garlic and pepper, were eaten by islanders and tourists.

Two decades later, the animal – one of the world’s largest species of frog – has in effect disappeared from the Caribbean island. A series of ecological disasters has reduced its former healthy, stable population of hundreds of thousands of animals to a total of 21 frogs, according to scientists’ most recent survey.

The startling rapidity of Leptodactylus fallax’s decline has stunned biologists who believe it is one of the fastest eradications of a wild animal ever recorded, an ecological calamity that demonstrates how quickly wildlife can be damaged and destroyed.

“This is an amazing animal,” said Andrew Cunningham, head of wildlife epidemiology for the Zoological Society London (ZSL). “It can grow to around 20cm in length and weigh more than a kilo. Both males and females play important roles in raising their young and it was one of Dominica’s top predators that ate insects, small mammals, snakes – and other frogs.”

The island used to buzz with the sound of the call of the male mountain chicken frog, added Cunningham. “Today there is only silence. This is a species facing imminent extinction in the wild, yet it was in a healthy state only a couples of decades ago. Its fate sends us a very clear warning about the dangers facing wildlife on Earth today.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... r-recorded



Photograph: ZSL

[weatheriscool]

21 species removed from endangered list due to extinction, U.S. wildlife officials say
Nearly two dozen species are being taken off the endangered species list because they are extinct, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday.

Most of the species were listed under the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s or 1980s and were very low in numbers or likely already extinct at the time of listing. In the years since, "rigorous reviews of the best available science" have been conducted to determine whether the animals are extinct.

"Federal protection came too late to reverse these species' decline, and it's a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it's too late," Service Director Martha Williams said.

Scientists in 2019 warned that worldwide, 1 million species of plants and animals were at risk of extinction. There are more than 1,300 species listed as either endangered or threatened in the United States under the Endangered Species Act. The 21 species being removed include one mammal, 10 types of birds, two species of fish and eight types of mussels. Eight of the 21 species were found in Hawaii.

"The 21 species extinctions highlight the importance of the ESA and efforts to conserve species before declines become irreversible," the government agency wrote in its announcement. "The circumstances of each also underscore how human activity can drive species decline and extinction by contributing to habitat loss, overuse, and the introduction of invasive species and diseases."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/21-species ... cials-say/

[Time_Traveller]

Giant chicken frog faces extinction due to a deadly amphibian fungus

Oct 23, 2023



The mountain chicken frog was once so abundant in Dominica, with thousands found across the island, that it became a national delicacy, supposedly tasting of chicken. Now, a new survey has found only 21 left in the Caribbean island nation.

The species’ population has declined over 99% since 2002 when Chytridiomycosis struck, according to the Zoological Society of London, or ZSL. Chytridiomycosis is a fungal infectious disease that affects more than 500 frog species across the world.

The species once lived across seven Caribbean islands, but researchers believe that Dominica is the last place on Earth where the frogs can be found in the wild today, according to a news release from the ZSL.

The survey was conducted over 26 nights by a research team with the Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme, a project made up of 10 European and Caribbean conservation institutes with a goal to see healthy populations of the frog back in Dominica and Montserrat by 2034.

The research team spent hundreds of hours searching for the chicken frog during the months of July and August. The survey found 23 frogs, but two of those were dead on the road, said Andrés Valenzuela Sánchez, a research fellow in wildlife health with ZSL who was involved with the survey.

www.accuweather.com/en/climate/giant-ch ... us/1589704

[wjfox]

‘A joy to watch’: UK rewilding brings endangered species back from brink

Local wildlife restoration starting to boost populations of dormice, birds, butterflies and others – and helping humans along the way

Thu 26 Oct 2023 13.00 BST

Vast expanses of rolling hilltops may be easy on the eye. But look a bit closer and many are in fact bleak landscapes – overgrazed and mostly devoid of diverse natural life. Shortsighted agricultural practices, habitat destruction and factory farming are among the causes of an alarming biodiversity crisis in Britain, where one in six species are in danger of local extinction.

Around the edges, however, local wildlife restoration projects are having an impact. Last year, 3.22% of the UK’s land was deemed to be well protected and managed, according to Wildlife Trusts, a slight increase on 2021, and councils are embracing rewilding. More and more community and private projects appear to be springing up too.

The nature restoration project Back on Our Map is one of these. Working in and around the Lake District, it has restored habitats across a series of protected areas from Morecambe Bay to Grizedale Forest, reintroducing species such as the seriously endangered hazel dormouse. It released 69 of the rodents in June 2021, which have since bred, with more than 100 juvenile dormice found in subsequent surveys.

There were also 64 small blue butterflies translocated from a nearby coastal site to widen the population’s geographic range. “Each butterfly was released by a young person from a local primary school,” says Anya Kuliszewski, a community engagement officer. “It was a lovely way of involving the next generation of wildlife enthusiasts.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... from-brink



Photograph: Guardian Community